What are some of your picks for those classic albums that changed or further innovated Black music?

I'll start (Randomly picked & in no particular order):

What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You - Aretha Franklin
All N All - Earth Wind & Fire
Songs In The Key Of Life - Stevie Wonder
Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome - Parliament
I'm Still In Love With You - Al Green
Extension Of A Man - Donny Hathaway
Rapture - Anita Baker
Straight From The Heart - Patrice Rushen
Sign O The Times - Prince
The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill - Lauryn Hill
Claudine Soundtrack - Gladys Knight & The Pips
Curtis - Curtis Mayfield
Hot Buttered Soul - Issac Hayes
Exodus - Bob Marley & The Wailers
Live At The Harlem Club - Sam Cooke
Street Songs - Rick James
Off The Wall - Michael Jackson
Destiny - The Jacksons
There's A Riot Going On - Sly & The Family Stone
Otis Blue - Otis Redding
The Genius Of Ray Charles - Ray Charles
Sex Machine - James Brown

Ya'll Finish off the rest...
[Edited 8/16/07 22:14pm]
[Edited 8/16/07 22:18pm]

Thriller - Michael Jackson


Sons Of Soul - Tony Toni Tone


Three Feet High And Rising - De La Soul


New Edition - N.E. Heartbreak


Bobby Brown - Don't Be Cruel

Jay Z - The Blueprint

2Pac - 2Pacs Greatest Hits

Biggie - Life After Death

EWF - The Way Of The World

The Jacksons - Triumph

Janet Jackson - Rhythm Nation 1814

Keith Sweat - Make It Last Forever

Mariah - Emancipation O Mimi (face it it will be her best work; a classic within 10 years...)

Maxwell - Urban Hang Suite

Meshell Ndegeochello - The Anthropological Mixtape

Outkast - Love Below / Speakerboxxx

Funkadelic - Free your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow

Dr Dre - The Chronic

The Time - What Time is It?

Prince - Lovesexy
[Edited 8/16/07 22:34pm]

paisleypark4 said:

Great Picks!

I guess jazz never existed then.

novabrkr said:

i was about to say

Since someone mentioned Off The Wall and Thriller (two favorites of mine), let me add Purple Rain and Let's Get It On.

novabrkr said:

I guess black Americans also never made the blues and gospel.

To be fair, the original post does seem to conclude with "you finish the rest..."

So instead of bitching I could have myself contributed some names to the list instead:

Herbie Hancock - Sextant
John Coltrane - Impressions
Eric Dolphy - Out To Lunch
Ornette Coleman - Free Jazz
Andrew Hill - Point Of Departure


... just some basic names.

novabrkr said:

Thanks because I noticed jazz or blues was not mentioned and I'll like to add something:

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Herbie Hancock - Maiden Voyage
John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
B.B. King - Live In Cook County Jail
Johnnie Taylor - Eargasm
Etta James - At Last!
Donald Byrd - Places & Spaces
Stevie Wonder - Innervisions
[Edited 8/17/07 6:31am]

Are these the "greatest," or simply, our "favorites"? A lot of these wonderful albums listed are among my favorites, but I'd not go so far as to call them the "greatest" to the extent that they would not be questioned by any reasonable person.

If any album of the last 20 years should be included, Public Enemy's It Takes A Nation of Millions . . . should, and, IMHO, before any other hip-hop album.

James Brown -- Live At The Apollo

John Coltrane -- Giant Steps

Thelonious Monk -- Brilliant Corners

Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie -- Bird & Diz

Temptations: Sing Smokey
Guy: Guy
James Brown: Live atthe Apollo Vol. 2
Joe Tex: I Gotcha

There was tons of great stuff before the LP era too!

Just to add balance, I have to mention my perennial faves Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, two of the greatest artists of the 20th century regardless of race, who had their first heydays before the vinyl LP existed.

Imo the best compilations of their early work, like Louis' 'Complete Hot Fives and Sevens' and a good compilation of 1920's or early '40s Duke, should be easily in the top ten or five in any such poll.

But, for actual original albums of these artists, I'd choose, for Louis 'Plays WC Handy' and 'Plays Fats Waller', and for Duke 'Live at Newport 1956' and perhaps the 'Far East Suite', all readily available on CD.

And I'd give special mention to 'The Great Summit - Complete Sessions', the only album Louis and Duke played in together, not because it's the best thing either ever did, cause it's not, but it is a damn fine and fun record, which I'm just discovering for the first time. Louis sings/ plays Duke with the Armstrong All Stars with Duke in the piano chair ...

So, while great, the likes of Charlie Parker, Monk and Steve Wonder would not exist as they did/do without standing on the shoulders of giants such as these ...

Even the James Brown horn section owes its roots to be bop and swing, with influences such as Miles Davis 'So What' (which Pee Wee Ellis heard and adapted part of the unison horn line of for 'Cold Sweat') and Count Basie and his supertight rhythm section (Fred Wesley said his real dream was always to play trombone for Basie, which he did for a short while, in the early '80s IIRC).

And surely Muddy Waters, Bessie Smith and Mahalia Jackson should be in there somewhere too, if only with a great compilation each.

Old-time reactionary Miles now ceases grumbling and returns to his music history textbooks, and his big pile of 78's, in the company of Wynton Marsalis and Stanley Crouch. .

Hootie and the Blowfish

Here's a few I would not leave for my desert island without:

Prince - Purple Rain
The Meters - s/t
Hendrix - Are You Experienced?
Skip James - Complete Recordings
Public Enemy - ...Nation of Millions...
Stevie W - Innervisions
James Brown - I Can't Stand Myself When You Touch Me
Funkadelic - Standing On The Verge...
Monk w/Coltrane - Live at Carnegie Hall
Oliver Nelson & Eric Dolphy - Straight Ahead
Albert Ayler - Live in Greenwich Village
Love - Forever Changes
Bad Brains - Rock for Light
Ultramagnetic MCs - Critical Beatdown
Parliament - Funkentelechy Vs Placebo Syndrome
Sly & Family Stone - There's A Riot
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
John Coltrane - At Village Vanguard
Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz To Come
Horace Silver - Cape Verdean Blues
Digital Underground - Sex Packets
Gil Scott-Heron - Conversations at 125/Lenox


And lots of artists where I don't know their individual albums that well but would need at least one good hits collection - Temps, Tops, Smokey, Dramatics, Otis, Rufus Thomas, Marcia Ball...and I'm sure I'm gonna remember my favorite as soon as I click submit...

Debbie Gibson- Electric Youth

sosgemini said:

WHAT?

Carole King - Tapestry awh i crack myself up

georgeguitar said:

You guys are kiddin' right? Sure this is a classic, but she or her music ain't black...

silverchild said:

yes im taking the pisss hence the awh i crack myself up bit!!

Come on guys let's get serious!

namepeace said:

My own inclusions are of the type of releases where the mentioned, very famous jazz musicians on their own right started being more avant-garde without rushing completely into it (which would be the type of releases I'd personally usually enjoy more, but I'd also try to include the mainstream perspective into it as well and choose "impressions" instead of "ohm")

"Sextant", for example, could/should be considere one of the first experimental electronic albums released outside the academic music canon.

novabrkr said:

yeah, i see that. some of the others i had some questions about. jay-z, mariah, et al?

paisleypark4 said:

this person said African american ... mariah has Never claimed herself as african american....

and I can argue that Butterfly is her best album to date....
[Edited 8/18/07 21:20pm]

Exile on Main Street- The Rolling Stones
It's too Late to stop Now- Van Morrison
Live at the Fillmore- Allman Brothers
Bluesbreakers- John Mayall and Eric Clapton
Blow Your face Out- J Geils Band
Elvis is Back- Elvis Presley

my list is very short...

Michael Jackson Thriller

Micheal Jackson Bad

Michael Jackson Dangerous

TotalAlisa said:

I would definitely agree! Butterfly was recorded at a tough time in Mariah's career and those songs define beauty, loss, and love. The Emancipation of Mimi would definitely be her second best, IMO.

silverchild said:

Im sorry she might not be african american... but she does make african american music ...

so i guess its fair to put anyone on this list.. if they make african american music